Michelle Lang died bringing Afghan stories to Canadians

Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang, 34, collects a season's greeting from a Canadian soldier at Kandahar Airfield in this Dec. 12, 2009, photo. Lang was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Dec. 30, 2009, while covering the war for the Canwest News Service. Four Canadian soldiers also died in the blast.Colin Perkel
/ The Canadian Press

Calgary-based reporter Michelle Lang, 34, tries on her fragmentation vest and helmet at Kandahar Airfield in this Dec. 13, 2009, photo. Lang was killed by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan Dec. 30, 2009, while covering the war for the Canwest News Service. Four Canadian soldiers also died in the blast.Colin Perkel
/ The Canadian Press

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CALGARY — Calgary Herald journalist Michelle Lang never took the easy way out, whether it was holding government to account or travelling to a busy African AIDS clinic to chronicle the downside of recruiting foreign doctors.

Assigned to cover Canadian military efforts in Afghanistan for Canwest News Service, the 34-year-old Vancouver native could have remained in the relatively safe confines of the base.

But Lang wasn't wired that way.

Just days after arriving in early December, she couldn't wait to get "out of the wire" — off the main military base — and on the ground with the troops.

This week, she ventured out with a Provincial Reconstruction Team, soldiers and social workers working with ordinary Afghans to help repair the damage done by decades of war.

"Hopefully this will produce some interesting stories on the civilian-reconstruction side, as well as some military ones," Lang wrote in an e-mail to an editor two days before her death.

Travelling Wednesday afternoon with a Canadian convoy of soldiers in the volatile Kandahar area — a notorious Taliban stronghold — her vehicle struck a roadside bomb four kilometres south of Kandahar City.

Lang, a health reporter for the newspaper, and four soldiers were killed. Four other soldiers and a Canadian civilian were injured. The soldiers have not yet been identified.

Lang's death, the first of a Canadian journalist in Afghanistan, was felt at home and in newsrooms across the country.

"It's a devastating day. I'm totally heartbroken. I feel for her family, her fiancee, her friends and I feel for the newsroom," said Calgary Herald editor-in-chief Lorne Motley.

"It creates this hole, not only for the Herald, obviously, but also for Canwest and any other news organization because we're a pretty tight-knit group as journalists. We're family and when we lose one of our own, that's difficult for all of us to accept."

Her death was also marked by the Prime Minister's Office as a tragedy that would resonate in many Canadian communities.

"While not regularly the subject of news, those journalists who risk their lives reporting alongside the men and women of the Canadian Forces in one of the most dangerous regions in the world should not be forgotten," said PMO press secretary Dimitri Soudas.

Lang's death is especially tragic considering 2009 was a standout year for her on various fronts.

Earlier this year, she captured a National Newspaper Award as the top beat writer in the country.

She distinguished herself for daily health coverage in Calgary and investigating Alberta's efforts to recruit South African doctors — travelling from Cape Town to Johannesburg to chronicle the story.

At home, Lang was recently engaged to Calgarian Michael Louie and slated to be wed in the summer.

"She had everything going for her this year," said friend Colette Derworiz, a Calgary Herald reporter. "She excelled in journalism. She excelled in her personal life."

Despite the heartache, however, the tragedy serves to remind Canadians of the important work being done by journalists in foreign locales. Robert Bragg, a journalism instructor at Mount Royal University, said journalists play an integral role in Afghanistan.

Without them, Canadians wouldn't know what's happening on military missions and in Afghan villages.

"It's important to be able to tell our story about our people through the eyes and sensitivities of our journalists, so that we're seeing it from our own perspective, rather than having our story told for us by others," said Bragg.

Professionally, Lang's achievements were earned the hard way.

She didn't go to journalism school, but graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

She started out at small weekly newspapers in British Columbia, but with hard work found her way to the Regina Leader-Post in 2000. The former West Coast resident was hired on as an agriculture reporter because she was talented and tenacious.

Bruce Johnstone, who was Lang's editor at the Leader-Post, said she personified the old journalistic creed of afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted.

"The minute you met her, you knew she was something special," he said.

"She was the very best kind of journalist — a person who was hard-working and fun to be around — she was a very principled journalist and would always do the right thing."

Lang joined the Herald as a business reporter in 2002 and began covering health for the newspaper four years ago. She embraced the beat, bringing attention to the plight of rural health care and the travails of patients who fell through the cracks because the province didn't cover their drug costs. Lang also shone the spotlight on health-care spending, growing wait times and the controversial salaries of top health bureaucrats.

Her dogged approach often put her at odds with health officials and cabinet ministers. On health reform, she once badgered then-premier Ralph Klein into his famous quote about not reacting to the "reaction to the reaction to the reaction."

Ultimately, however, she earned health officials' respect.

"Michelle covered health issues with professionalism, accuracy and thoroughness," Alberta Health Minister Ron Liepert said in a statement. "She was tenacious in her quest to inform Albertans, and for her diligence she was very well respected."

Around the newsroom, reporters admired her work ethic, diligence and compassion. Nicknamed "Doctor Lang" by colleagues, they frequently sought her out for medical advice.

Lang made the decision last year to cover the work of Canadian soldiers, aid workers and diplomats in Afghanistan. Friends recall she recognized the dangers, but felt there were still important stories to be told from the country.

Scott Anderson, editor-in-chief of Canwest News Service, said Lang was doing important work.

"Journalists need to — and do — put themselves at risk every day to report first-hand on important stories like Afghanistan," he said. "But that doesn't make this any easier."

However, friend and colleague Gwendolyn Richards said while work was important to Lang, nothing meant more than family and friends.

"I am sure you could count on two hands the number of times she left work on time," said Richards, noting the long hours Lang poured into her job. "But I would argue that she approached everything with the same fervour."

She recalled how, in the days before leaving for Afghanistan and busy planning for the assignment, Lang threw together an impromptu birthday dinner for Richards.

"She was very sweet and thoughtful," added Richards. "She made sloppy joes . . . and she felt bad that they weren't better. She wanted it to be a great birthday."

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